Steel dam



March 3, 1936. J, FULTNER ET AL 2 ,033,027

STEEL DAM Filed Aug. 24, 1954 UNITED s s PATENT OFFICE STEEL DAM Jaroslav Fultner, Gregory Gregorjevitch Krivoshein, and Josef Sekla, Prague, Czechoslovakia Application August 24, 1934, serial No. 741,310 In Czechoslovakia November 11, 1932 2 Claims. (CI. 61-32) Dam constructions which have hitherto been a1 cylindrical segments; By the construction acconstructed Whether submerged or not subcording to the invention the detrimental influmerged or a combination of the two types have ence of the temperature and the necessity of prousually been made of filled-in earth, filled-in viding expansion joints, such as are necessar 5 stone, rammed or cast concrete or of reinforced. in concrete, reinforced concrete or other steel 5 concrete. For building dams steel has also been dams, is completely avoided. used, but these dams have not been satisfactory A further improvement of the curved steel dam on account of defects in their construction alaccording to the invention consists in the use of though the steel material, more particularly nonrigid abutment bodies which are constructed on rusting or corrosion resisting steel is the most the air side of the dam and against which the 10 suitable material for such constructions. dam wall is supported either directly or by means Other proposals which have been made for of oblique struts, the dam according to the insteel dams have not been successful on account vention when constructed in this way having, in of their high costs which the very complicated cross section, substantially the shape of a right steel constructions entailed. The construction angled triangle. The important technical ef- 15 according to the invention is simply and rationfect obtained in this way consists in a considerally constructed. In addition to economical reaable shortening of the dam breadth at its base. sons, reasons of safety make it advisable to build The abutment member may be constructed in steel dams. The curved construction of a dam different ways; either using vertical columns according to the invention is completely waterfixed in the ground or resting with their ends at 20 tight and elastic, allows of expansion without a foundation, the columns supporting the upper joints and also, in case of a catastrophe, a breakoblique struts or by means of abutment meming of a steel wall, in view of the articulated bers which preferably have the form of a rightconstruction thereof, cannot cause very extenangled triangle, against the hypotenuse of which sive damage in the land below the dam. the dam member bears either directly or through 25 In order to obtain all the above-mentioned adoblique struts, preferably at right angles to the vantages of steel dams and to avoid the various hypotenuse.

disadvantages of hitherto unsuccessful steel The invention is illustrated by way of examples dams, according to the present invention the in the accompanying drawing. construction of a steel dam is solved in a par- Figures 1, 2 and 3 show in a vertical section a 30 ticularly advantageous manner. The curved plan view, and a back view a dam which is norsteel dam according to the invention forms a mally not submerged.

combined dam wall which consists of a series of Figs. 4 and 5 are vertical sectional views of two inclined convex cylindrical surfaces of corrosionfurthe modifications of the arrangement shown resisting steel plates of great span which are rein Fig. 1. 35 inforced with ribs of section steel. The wall Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary plan detail constructed in this manner rests without any partly in section of a, modified surface of the dam, transverse girders on oblique longitudinal girand ders which are supported by struts which are Fig. 7 is a schematic sectional detail view.

practically at right angles thereto. The sepa- Referring more particularly to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 40 rate cylindrical convex surfaces according to the the dam is composed of a series of inclined cylininvention act in the manner of a boiler wall. drical surfaces I supported on longitudinal gird- The use of arched walls of great span without ers 2. The girders 2 are supported by oblique any transverse girders and the expansion of the struts 3 which rest on foundation blocks 4. The

arches made possible in this manner constitute individual blocks 4 may be connected together by 5 an essential distinction between the invention tension rods placed at right angles to the direcand the hitherto known steel dams, which contion of the dam. sist of a structure of transverse and longitudinal Figure 1 shows a dam with a system of triangugirders covered with plates and the like. lar abutment members l5 against the hypotenuses In addition to the small weight the construcof which the dam members bear directly. The 50 tion according to the invention gives the result abutment members are formed by a rigid system that a change in temperature cannot produce any of intersecting struts 3 and struts I6, which latter transverse extension or contraction of the dam. run parallel to the longitudinal girders 2.

A change in temperature results simply in a The outer points of intersection of the struts change in the radius of curvature of the individu- 3 and I6 are connected together by vertical or 55 oblique rods l1 and the points of intersection lying in the line of the foundation bear against the foundations 4. Fig. 4 shows a similar system. The systems of construction according to Figures 1 and 4 are shown as stable and statically determined constructions.

Figure 5 shows a dam with abutment members l5 which are constructed on the air side of the dam in the form of vertical arched columnar supports, against which the dam wall I resting on the girders 2 bears through the upper oblique struts 3, while the lower struts rest directly on the foundations 4.

The various systems described are stable and may be constructed as statically determined or not statically determined. Each pair of struts 3 may be connected by a framework 6 (Fig. 3) of ordinary construction, in order to strengthen it against yielding.

The framework for connecting the struts 3 or the reinforcement against wind by means of rods 6 according to Figure 3 is carried out in the supporting construction of struts according to the invention in every other space and connects a pair of struts.

Figure 6 shows a form of the cylindrical surface of the dam. The arches may be provided with an asphalt or other protecting layer 8.

Figure 7 shows a cylindrical plate reinforced by ribs 1 of different kinds of section steel.

The steel dam construction according to the invention can be carried out by using known technical means, either riveted 0r welded or riveted and welded. The whole dam construction can be made ready in the Workshop and the finished parts carried to the building place, which then are either riveted or welded together.

An advantage of the steel dams resides in the fact that they can be assembled without considering the weather conditions in different seasons, and that the time for finishing the construction is considerably shorter than with other systems. A further advantage of the steel dam is a lighter and tighter connection for outlet pipe conduits and closing members, and further the attachment of inlet pipe conduits for turbines to the dam wall at the water side. The exposed and accessible pipe conduits can be looked after. Finally, machine housings of hydro-electric works can be included in the construction of the dam body. When the dam is not submerged lateral overflows can be constructed either in steel construction or of reinforced concrete.

We claim:

1. .In a steel dam, an inclined dam wall including a plurality of arcuate wall members arranged side by side, substantially triangular and rigid abutments arranged on the air side of said wall members and each including a longitudinal girder member forming the hypotenuse side of the triangular abutment and engaging and supporting the marginal edges of each adjacent wall member, and strut members connected with the longitudinal girder members and anchored relative to the ground and positioned in the vertical plane of the girder members.

2. In a steel dam as claimed in claim 1, in which the strut members comprise inclined struts perpendicular to the girder members, and other inclined struts parallel to the girder members and intersecting the first mentioned struts so as to form the rigid abutments.

JAROSLAV FULTNER.

GREGORY GREGORJEVITCH KRIVOSHEIN.

JOSEF SEKLA. 

